The Bumps Along The Way (Rewrite)
by lennyxperaltiago
Summary: The year is 2022, and Leonard and Penny have been trying for a baby for two years. After losing a baby the year before, they find out they're pregnant again. -Rewrite, only because I was never happy with the quality of writing on the old one.-
1. Chapter 1: March

**_Author's Note: This is a rewrite of my first Fanfic. It has the exact same plot, with major tweaking almost everywhere. I have added some extra parts to make it more interesting, but the storyline is exactly the same, as not to throw anyone off tracks, because I have written a sequel to this. I was never too happy with the quality of the writing in the old version, so I have been thinking of deleting that one, but I need to know if you would like to see this rewrite, otherwise, I won't continue_** ** _._**

 ** _The dates are the same, I've just made many adjustments to it, so it's more realistic..._**

 ** _I also want to mention that in my sequel of this story, "Rainbow - The journey to Riley" Howard and Bernadette's son is named Ryder, as to go along with the first writing of this story. Rather than changing the sequel and confusing you, I'm changing it to Michael here._**

 ** _Enjoy :D (Hopefully, you will because of the massive quality improvement!)_**

* * *

Chapter 1: March

I shouted up to Leonard from the living room, hoping he would pause his halo championship with the rest of the guys. I called him again and again, but yet he still wouldn't come out of that damn gaming world, which granted I don't entirely get. I walked upstairs and into his man-cave to find him with the bulkiest black headphones I had ever seen over his head, and him almost strangling the controller with the death grip he had on it. I smiled as I realized how cute he was when he was so engrossed with his games like that. I coughed loudly and grabbed his attention. He paused the game, which then effected everyone else and caused them to complain. He pulled his headphones off his head and placed them down on the bookshelf that was next to him, that was full of his x-box games. Like he would use it for actual books!

"Hey, honey. What's up?" He asked, looking over and smiling.

"Can you come with me quickly?" I wondered, slightly pointing out the door.

"I'm kinda in the middle of something." He sighed.

"Leonard..." I replied kind of in a whining way, which I knew he couldn't resist.

Leonard sighed as I felt a sense of pride that I had won the 'argument'. He picked up the headset and quickly spoke down, alerting that he was leaving in for a second. When he placed the headset down again, The voices of Raj, Howard, and Sheldon could all be heard loudly as they were all complaining down their microphones.

"Hey, shut up!" I shouted, which actually worked, as I didn't hear them disapproving anymore.

He walked out of the room and began making his way to the stairs. I started to follow him, but I stopped in my tracks. He looked strangely at me as I just began smiling.

"Penny, you okay?" Leonard wondered as I was considering whether to tell him downstairs or blurt it out now.

Without properly thinking it through, I blurted it out. "I'm pregnant!" I squealed.

Leonard looked over at me with a look of pure delight. His face drew a large smile, but he remained where he was stood. "Like pregnant, pregnant?"

I quickly nodded. "Like doctor confirmed."

Leonard began smiling even more. He approached me quite quickly and pressed his lips up against mine. They stayed like that for a moment, before he broke it off. We both couldn't stop smiling at each other. He took and step back, as we were both beaming.

"I can't wait to tell the guys!" He said, breaking the mood and immediately making me worry.

"No, you can't." I butted in, making him look confused. "Not until we get the all-clear from the doctor. I don't want a repeat of last time."

Leonard nodded, agreeing with me. Last time, Leonard had told his friends as soon as he finished the phone call, and I had told Amy and Bernadette later that night. It had been a long time coming for us, and we were both ecstatic. We had, then, been trying for a baby since our friend's second wedding anniversary, and we found out about that baby incredibly close to their third. Then, when we went in for our twelve-week appointment, we found out that the baby didn't have a heartbeat, and that we had to miscarry. We later found out that it was a boy. It took some courage, but two months later we decided to start trying again, and we had finally gotten the positive test we had been hoping for.

"I love you, Penny." He smiled, placing his hands on my arms.

"I love you too," I responded.

"And you know what?" He asked.

I shook my head in response, as I had no idea what he was about to say.

He moved his hands to my stomach and smiled. "I love this baby already."

"Me too."

We kissed again, and Leonard kept his hands on my belly. This could be our chance to be a family, and we were both really looking forward to it.

* * *

Leonard and I walked into the restaurant to meet up with our friends. We both smiled over at them, who were already seated at the table and, most of them were patiently waiting for us. We quickly sat at the table, before Leonard apologized for being late.

Howard and Bernadette accepted the apology, and Amy didn't say anything, along with Halley and Micheal. Sheldon complained, which was no surprise toward me, and Raj had hardly noticed that we were there.

"Isn't it nice for all of us to get out?" Bernadette asked the overly large table, whilst looking over her menu.

"Who wants a drink?" Raj asked, smiling over the entire table.

"I'm alright." I quickly replied.

Everyone at the table, including Sheldon, looked up. I quickly looked around the table, before looking suspiciously down at my menu.

"Why not? You're the queen of alcohol." Bernadette joked.

"Well, I'm driving." I lied. "Leonard doesn't like driving in the dark."

Leonard quickly nodded, agreeing with the lie that I had quickly thought of. The rest of the table, apart from Halley and Micheal, who both were occupied with the coloring sheet they were given, all nodded, agreeing with us too, and thinking it was pretty believable.

"Great Lie." Leonard complimented, leaning in towards me.

"It's not the first time I've said it." I blurted, not thinking about my answer very carefully.

"What?" He wondered.

"Nothing. Not important."

* * *

For the first time, we had our first actual appointment. I had seen a doctor at the beginning of the month, which confirmed the pregnancy. But now Leonard was coming with me, it suddenly felt real. And today was actually the day that we would hear the heartbeat for the first time. In my opinion, that was the most important thing, only because I didn't really care about the remainder of the crap they have to perform.

I had a few _mild_ problems on the way there, but luckily Leonard was okay with it. He'd usually flip out, but he didn't this time, which I think helped me through it. So after six stops on the side of the road, we had finally arrived.

The doctor did a few tests and estimated the possible due date for the baby. He then said they had to do a special kind of ultrasound to get better results, and I won't even go into much detail. A few moments later, the room was still silent, but the doctor grabbed both mine and Leonard's attention to the screen. On the very left, just hidden away in the corner, was a black circle that was the shape of a grape. Inside, a little grey object that just about resembled a baby.

"There it is. Just tucked away." The doctor smiled, pointing to it. He moved his hand to the center of the grey form of the baby. "And there, is the heartbeat."

After a few moments, both Leonard and I hadn't taken our eyes off the screen. I grabbed his hand and cupped it in mine. He raised my hand and kissed the end of my ring finger, as he both were still staring at the screen.

"Nice job, daddy," I said, choking up a little.

"You too, mommy," Leonard responded.

Just hearing that kinda freaked me out. But in a good way.

After the appointment had finished, we both walked out to the car, hand in hand. We both sat down in the car almost simultaneously, and he asked to see the picture again. I handed him the printed ultrasound and he sat there for a moment, just smiling down at the picture. But granted, after he handed it back to me and began driving, I looked down at it all the way home. It was actually happening, Leonard and I were having a baby, and even though we were still to get the all clear, I had a really good feeling about it already.

* * *

 _ **Please Review and tell me if you would like to continue writing the story. If not, I'll just keep the old version, but I think this new version will be more interesting. Please let me know!**_


	2. Chapter 2: April

Chapter 2: April

At the very beginning of the month, I came home incredibly late after having back to back meetings at work. The living room was dark, due to the fact none of the lights were on. I didn't see any lights on upstairs, so I decided to shout up to Leonard, to see if he was already in his man-cave. I didn't get an answer-back, so I made the assumption that he hadn't come back home yet.

I scurried my hand along the wall, before reaching the light switch. I stopped dead still when I heard a large clash coming from behind the kitchen door. I switched on the light and called out. I stood in the now lit living room, absolutely paralyzed.

Being from Nebraska, I got my courage up and walked into the kitchen, holding a lamp in my hands as protection.

I sighed with relief, with the feeling of wanting to attack him, as I saw Leonard standing by the counter.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, putting the lamp on the kitchen island next to me.

"I wanted to surprise me with dinner." He answered, before going down on his knees to get the spatula from the floor that had made the large noise.

"Oh, that's so sweet." I smiled, walking over to him and giving him a small kiss on his cheek. "But next time, please don't scare the crap out of me."

"Noted."

I then asked if he wanted me to take over, and he swiftly denied and told me to go and watch a movie.

I sighed and let him continue, but I had to admit that I did prefer his cooking to mine. I quickly went upstairs and got changed out of my work clothes before putting some more comfortable ones on, before heading back downstairs.

I sat on the bar stool at the window that separated the kitchen from the living room, and I was talking to Leonard as he prepared dinner.

"So, how was work?" He asked, which was a question I was hoping to avoid.

"It was good. What about you?" I wondered, hoping he would drop it.

Nope. He didn't.

"Penny, what happened at work?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask that." I sighed, which got a tiny glare back from him. "I'm pretty sure Bernadette knows about the pregnancy, only because I left one of the meetings I had, early."

"Nauseous?" He guessed.

"Yeah, and it's slowly pissing me off." I sighed.

"It will leave soon enough," Leonard mentioned.

"It betta!" I smiled, which caused Leonard to laugh slightly.

We finished up the conversation, and as if it was a cue, dinner was ready, and we sat down at the small dining table to eat. I had to admit that it was actually really nice, and it felt good to finally be able to eat something it appeared my stomach could tolerate. After dinner, we decided to have an early night. We shared a shower, before getting into some pajamas and into bed. Instead of falling asleep, Leonard turned on a movie on his laptop, with headphones on. After a few moments of silently sitting there, I begged him to take out the headphones and we both watched the movie together, with my head against his chest. He slipped his hand under my shirt and placed it against my stomach. I quickly fell asleep, with my head against the love of my life, and his hand on my stomach, which inside had our baby.

* * *

I woke up early the next morning to my stomach churning. I looked next to me and saw Leonard fast asleep. I managed to sit up, before rushing off to the bathroom and throwing up the dinner Leonard had made yesterday.

After a moment, Leonard walked through the door and grabbed my hair out of my face, whilst kneeling by my side.

"Oh, Penny, I'm so sorry." He apologized.

"It's fine," I replied, spitting for the last time.

Leonard left the room, before returning after a moment holding a glass of water.

"Feeling better now?" He asked, handing the water to me.

"Little bit," I answered, before taking a small sip of the water to rinse out my mouth. "This better be worth it!" I sighed.

Leonard chuckled slightly as I leaned against the wall. "All of this is good, right? Morning sickness is a good sign, isn't it?" I wondered.

"There hasn't been proof about it being good, but by the look on your face, I know that isn't the answer that you're looking for, so I'm just going to shut up," Leonard mentioned, before going all quiet.

I smiled over at him. He was adorable when he thought he had said the wrong thing, and he immediately goes shy.

"It's fine," I reassured, which made him look back up.

He stood up from the floor and helped me up. I quickly brushed my teeth, getting rid of the aftertaste of vomit in my mouth. Leonard then walked alongside me back to the bed as I was a little uneasy on my feet. I sat back down on my side of the bed, before laying down and pulling the comforter over me again. Leonard quickly joined me in bed again. I moved closer and began smiling. I put my head against his chest again as I heard his glasses hit the bedside table. Leonard kissed my forehead and I quickly fell asleep again.

 ** _I'm sorry this one is short, it's just I've moved the Shamy wedding anniversary to May, as that is when the wedding is on the show. I also couldn't think of anything else..._**


	3. Chapter 3: May

Chapter 3: May

About halfway through the month, Leonard and I both went over to our former roommate's apartment, which happened to be my old apartment from when I first moved to Pasadena. Just thinking about telling our friends about the baby actually gave me shivers, in more of a good way. For the past three months, only me, Leonard and the doctor knew, and finally, I would be able to talk to my friends about it. Actually get pointers from Bernadette, as she has both a girl and a boy. Halley and Michael.

When we arrived at the apartment block, we both got out the car, and I checked the time -to make sure we weren't too late- but ended up smiling at my lock screen, which was the twelve-week profile we had gotten earlier last week. Even though the picture was bad quality, I couldn't get over the fact of how cute he or she was.

We both then walked through the door, using the key that we had accidentally not returned when we had moved out. Leonard took my hand, and we began walking up the four flights of stairs to their apartment.

"I'm still wondering when the hell they're going to fix the damn elevator." I sighed, stepping on to the third floor, and slightly running out of breath.

"Penny, the elevator _randomly_ broke almost twenty years ago. If they didn't do it then, they aren't going to do it now," Leonard mentioned, keeping his head forward.

"You mean, _you_ broke the elevator almost twenty years ago."

Leonard pursed his lips and stayed quiet for a moment. I stopped halfway up the last flight of stairs and stared at him, whilst trying to hide my smile. "Maybe..." He managed to whisper, before looking straight forward again, and continuing to walk up the stairs.

I followed him up the last stretch, whilst thanking god we still wouldn't have to do those stairs at the end of the pregnancy. But to be honest, I'm already struggling with the stairs at home. He knocked on the apartment door across from where we used to live. A few moments later, we were greeted by Sheldon, who angrily glared at us.

"You're late." He sneered. "What's your excuse?"

Leonard and I both stayed quiet, not wanting to reveal the fact that we had stopped a few times on the way to stop myself from throwing up in the car.

"Do we need an excuse? We live a while away, and we left late."

Sheldon narrowed his eyes, before being barked at by Amy to let us in. He moved out the way and fully opened the door. Leonard let me in first, and I turned to see him playfully sneer at him as he entered the apartment.

"Oh, it's nice to see you got here safe." Bernadette smiled, appearing from the bedroom of the apartment, after -what I could presume- going to the bathroom.

I raised my eyebrows at her, and she ignored it, pushing away the conversation.

Leonard walked over to the kitchen, before taking a glass of wine for him and myself, which I immediately put down on the coffee table.

"Haven't you brought Halley and Michael?" Leonard wondered, standing behind me, starting off the plan.

"Leonard, the first thing you've got to know about parenting is that you never bring kids to a wine tasting." Howard deadpanned, glaring at Leonard, which then caused me to glare back at him.

"What Howie is _trying_ to say is that we've left them with Stuart today." Bernadette interrupted.

I looked up at Leonard, and he smiled, which was telling me to drop the news. Leonard had successfully pulled off, yet, another correct hypothesis.

"Well, thanks for the first piece of advice, Howard," I said, trying to hide my smile, which didn't work very well.

"What?" Both Howard and Bernadette asked.

Leonard put his glass down next to mine, and I saw Amy's face light up.

"Penny, why haven't you drank any wine?" She asked, looking over at me with a small smile.

I only shrugged my shoulders as a response as I felt my heartbeat in the bottom of my feet.

"Are you-?" Bernadette wondered, butting in.

I stood up and grabbed my phone from my back pocket. I held out the phone out and they all gathered around. Amy almost knocked the phone out of my hand as she hugged me tightly, whilst Bernadette began jumping up and down with excitement.

I pulled away from Amy and put my thumb against my eye, to stop myself from crying. "Ah! Stupid hormones." I complained, but with a huge smile on my face.

"Guys! This is absolutely amazing! You're gonna have a baby!" Bernadette squealed.

"The baby looks like Leonard from the side." Sheldon blurted.

I looked confused over at him, before turning to Leonard, who was looking at his ex-roommate the same way, before back down at the picture. I repeated it a few times, before realizing that he was right.

"Oh, my god! He really does!" I responded, trying not to shout.

"He! Do you guys know what you're having?"

"Wha! No! I've just been calling it a he recently. I've got a really strong feeling it's gonna be a boy." I answered back, laughing a little.

Bernadette nodded in agreement. "Well, stick with the often or not, your right. A mother is most often right."

* * *

When we got home, we called our parents, but of course, and not to my surprise, Beverly didn't pick up. Leonard offered just to text her to tell her, but I made him believe that it was a little mean. Leonard's dad seemed happy for the two of us, and both my parents seemed over the moon, which, again, didn't surprise me. According to Leonard, my dad had been hoping for me and Leonard to get together. Apparently, he wanted grandchildren before he died, that were born out of wedlock.

Leonard hung up on my parents after an hour conversation and smiled over at me. "So, it's really official now, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," I mumbled, loud enough for him to hear.

"We're having a baby." He smiled.

"We're having a baby," I repeated, before moving closer to him and pressing my lips to his. It was official. Everyone knew, and we didn't have to hide anything.

* * *

At the very end of the month, Leonard and I walked into the doctors' office again for a regular check-up, but as well as an ultrasound that would tell us the sex of the baby.

As I sat down on the chair, they started up the ultrasound machine and began the appointment. They pointed out the arms, feet, spine and everything else, and especially the heartbeat.

"Are you two ready to find out?" Doctor Malestone asked, looking at both.

For the past few weeks, I had been having a really strong feeling about the baby being a boy, and Leonard really thought it was a girl.

"Yeah!" We both answered simultaneously, both smiling too.

"Okay," Malestone said with a smile, before going quiet for a moment.

I took Leonard's hand tightly, and he kissed my forehead.

"It looks like you're going to have a little boy." Doctor Malestone continued, smiling at both of us.

I looked into Leonard's eyes with a sense of pride that I had gotten it right. I pressed my lips against his as the doctor's words repeated in my head.

We were having a little boy, in a little over five months.


	4. Chapter 4: June

Chapter 4: June

Leonard and I were walking around babies-R-us, which is ridiculously expensive, whilst looking for the specific object Leonard had in his mind. I stopped dead in my tracks when I felt a tiny push against the top of my quick forming bump.

"Penny, everything alright?" Leonard wondered, stopping after noticing I had stopped.

"I think I felt the baby..." I answered, with a large amount of hesitation.

Leonard raised his eyebrows at me and questioned it, as if he hadn't heard me correctly. I repeated that I thought I had felt the baby. I saw a large beaming smile appear on Leonard's face as he asked the same question a second time.

"Where did you feel it?" He asked, after I had told him I might have felt him for real this time.

"Just here," I answered, placing my hand down over the area I had felt the push.

Leonard put his hand over mine and we both waited to see if he would do it again. I felt another in the same place, but Leonard denied feeling anything. I removed my hand and put Leonard's straight down on my belly, before we both waited again. Sure enough, the baby did the same thing, in exactly the same place, but even though Leonard's hand was over the spot, he sighed sadly that he didn't feel anything. He stayed like that for a moment to see if there would be anything else, before I got a little uncomfortable and I asked him to stop. I would have happily stood there and waited to see if the baby would kick hard enough so Leonard could feel him, but people began looking over at us strangely, and I didn't really like the stares.

* * *

Leonard sat next to me, with his hand firmly on my belly, as I lay smiling at him. Every night for three weeks, Leonard had tried to feel the baby, but had failed every single time. It didn't seem to me that the baby was interested. But it did end a bad day on a funny note as I had begun pissing Leonard off about the fact I could feel the baby and he couldn't.

I was, unfortunately, watching a weird documentary because the TV was acting up and we didn't get any other channel, and I had complained several times to the company, but yet we still had only two channels. I wasn't really watching the documentary though, because I was having fun with Leonard by gasping loudly and mentioning every single tiny movement I was getting from the baby, which he couldn't feel.

I would on purposely gasp at every single small movement I would get, and he would glare angrily at me, which I would begin laughing at. Leonard then decided to join in the fun, and begin gasping at random times. He kept this up for a moment as a joke, until I gasped at the same time as him, this time not as a joke.

"Did you feel that?" I asked, my eyebrows high and my jaw dropped.

He didn't say anything, but he did quickly nod his head, covering his mouth with his free hand as it happened again. I immediately sat up, and changing the position made him kick even more, harder than he had done before.

"Leonard, he's properly kicking!" I almost squealed, smiling happily at him, as he returned it.

"Penny, that's amazing. Like _really_ amazing!" Leonard beamed, his hands still on my belly, which appeared bigger due to the position.

I smiled over at him again, and he quickly returned it. This was a new thing. Because we never got this far into the last pregnancy, we never experienced feeling the baby kick. And now we have.

I leant in closer and pressed my lips against Leonard's. I moved my hand to my belly, before finding Leonard's hands still on there. I broke off the kiss laughing slightly.

"I don't think he likes it," I joked, looking down at my belly.

He had began kicking and squirming rapidly as I kissed Leonard, which made me break it off laughing.

"I'm sorry, buddy, but that's how you got in there." Leonard smiled, speaking to my belly and making me go red.

"Leonard!" I gritted, hiding my smile, whilst playfully hitting his arm.

"What? He can't hear us!" He defended, sitting back on the couch.

I smiled at Leonard, before kissing him again, much to the baby's dislike. He broke it off and smiled at me.

"I love you, Penny," He said in the same way he did the first time, many years ago.

As to go along with a joke, I said what I had responded with when he first confessed his love. "Thank you," I smirked, making him raise his eyebrows at me, signaling that he didn't really find it funny. "I love you too, Hofstadter." I corrected. "I love both my Hofstadter boys," I added, before kissing him passionately again.

* * *

I ran through into Bernadette's office, after dying to tell her about feeling the baby. I stood across from her desk as she was on the phone. She yelled at the person in the other end, before hanging up the phone and greeting me.

"Guess what happened last night." I said, holding in my excitement.

"You had sex with Leonard?" She guessed, smiling up at me.

I stared right over at her. Howard was right, Bernadette was great at guessing questions. "Okay, that did happen, but it's not why I'm in here."

Bernadette shook her head and asked what had happened the night before.

"The baby kicked, like properly kicked. For the first time!" I said smiling cheerfully.

"That's great, Penny, I bet you're well happy about it." Bernadette smiled.

"Yeah, and when I first felt a proper kick, Leonard felt it as well." I beamed, continuing with the fact I had felt the baby.

"And let me guess, he was really happy about it, and then you had sex."

I looked down for a moment, making the room go silent. As I looked up, I muttered, "Maybe…" I saw Bernadette's raised eyebrows, and I agreed to leave her to get on with her work, something I should have been doing at that very moment. As I opened the door, Bernadette grabbed my attention again.

"Oh, by the way, your baby in there has ears now, so I'd be careful about what you say."

I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. "What?" I questioned.

"Your baby can hear you." Bernadette repeated with a small smirk.

I looked outside the door, and sighed. "Oh, god!" I mumbled, remembering last night.


	5. Chapter 5: August

_**Going along with the same chapter layouts, I have skipped July and September. Enjoy!**_

* * *

Chapter 5: August

 _Leonard and I were sitting next to each other, with a gentle breeze making the porch swing we were sitting on, move a little sway at a time. I could see two young kids opposite me, one of which looked exactly like a younger version of Leonard, with the top of his almost black hair carefully swept back, just about reaching the root, where it became a little curly. His dark brown eyes covered slightly by a pair of glasses. Next to the boy, was a little girl, at least two years younger. Her muddy blonde hair was tidily brushed back and put in a braid, which moved to her shoulder. She had a fringe that partially covered her left eye, which was a light green._

 _I smiled over at the two kids as they were both happily playing with a large water box, which seemed necessary due to the weather. Clear skies, sun shining, hardly any wind, which isn't unusual for California. I looked up at Leonard and saw him smiling too._

 _"Mommy, look! I made a castle!" The young girl beamed with pride, getting to her feet and pointing down at the structure._

 _"Good job, baby," I smiled, lifting my head off Leonard and taking a better look at the sandcastle._

 _"What makes the sand stick?" The girl asked, looking confused and lifting her eyebrows._

 _"Sandcastle are made from billions of tiny sharp-edged particles that rub and tumble together. And the damp sand sticks because of the water that forms little grain to grain bridges." The young boy answered confidently, hardly looking up from his castle._

 _"Sand isn't sharp." The girl replied, still looking confused._

 _"That's because it's tiny. You don't feel the sharpness, because they're so small, there isn't an impact."_

 _I blankly stared at the boy, hardly understanding a word he had said. I smiled and praised him, as the young girl thanked him for explaining it._

I opened my eyes to a large noise coming from downstairs. I reached over my back, going to wake Leonard up, but instead finding an empty bed. I turned over and saw the TV remote on Leonard's bedside table, but his side was empty. I looked around the room, hesitating to get out of bed. I lifted my phone up and checked the time. Seeing that it was almost eleven, I slowly rose up and got out of bed. I agreed to answer the email I had got, later.

I slowly walked down the stairs, before being able to see Leonard sitting on the couch, engrossed in an episode of Doctor Who on the TV.

"So, that's what woke me up," I said loudly, making him jump.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize how loud it was until it happened." Leonard apologized, looking over his shoulder.

I got to the bottom of the stairs before nearing the couch. I watched the episode for a moment, before asking which one it is.

"Oh, it's the fiftieth-anniversary episode, The Day of the Doctor." He answered, making me smile at him. "Sorry, I woke you up," He added.

"It's fine, it's late anyway, and we've got to be at Howard and Bernadette's at three," I mentioned, turning to the kitchen.

Leonard began to switch off the episode before I told him to leave it on. We had four hours until we had to leave, meaning we had about three hours until we needed to get ready, so there was no need to switch off the TV just yet. I walked through to the kitchen and got a drink, before returning to the couch and sitting next to Leonard, before I ended up leaning against him. We both watched the end of the episode, before watching roughly another three, and suddenly the time had flown by.

Much to his reluctance, we both went upstairs and changed, me being ready just in time. We both made it out the door before I had to rush back in because I had to get my phone. Finally, about ten minutes later than we were supposed to, we were on our way to Howard and Bernadette's for their third annual summer barbecue.

* * *

When we got there, we just about managed to park, and we were quickly greeted by both Halley and Michael as soon as we got out of the car. We made our way to the living room and greeted Howard, who was slouching on the couch, trying to impress his father-in-law, and very badly failing.

"Howard, where's Bernie?" I asked, walking closer to the couch.

"She's in the back garden with her mom, Sheldon, and Amy,"

Leonard and I walked out the back and saw Bernadette standing there, communicating with her mom. I shyly walked over and quietly said hi, allowing her to finish with her mom. I greeted Raj, who had ended up doing the barbecue, before being pulled to the side by Amy.

She, not surprisingly, hugged me tightly and complimented my very fast growing bump. I took the compliment and thanked her, even though I didn't feel the way she was projecting it. She had asked, even though we had seen her two days before if we had chosen a name for the baby since the last time we had seen her.

"No, we're still thinking," I lied. We had picked a name, but we were just seeing if it fit him. If that was definitely his name. The one we were struggling with was the middle name. There was hardly anything we liked that went with his first name.

"Oh, okay," She sighed, sounding disappointed. She had definitely been very happy for Leonard and I since we announced our pregnancy to them back in May, and she wanted almost every little detail.

Before she began asking even more awkward questions, my phone buzzed. I told her I'd be back in a moment, before walking off to a more quiet area. I answered the phone and heard my mom's voice through it.

"Hey, mom, what's up?" I asked in a cheerful way, happy to be hearing from her.

My heart dropped as she answered my question. I stood silently, listening to my mom after I had asked a few small questions. After a small conversation, she almost choked three times as she was crying.

"Hang in there mom, I'll get a flight out as soon as I can," I mentioned before she said goodbye and hung up.

I stood there, in silence and without moving. Leonard quickly approached me and asked exactly what had gone on. Without answering, I almost fell straight into his chest, and I began sobbing.

"Penny, what's going on? Is everything okay? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" He asked, wrapping his arms around my back.

"I'm okay, the baby is fine, but not everything is." I managed to speak, making sure it was understandable.

"What's wrong?" Leonard asked again, pushing me away and looking me in the eyes, whilst gently wiping the stream of tears from my cheek.

"It's my dad," I began, before taking a deep breath to contain myself. After a moment, I had got myself under control and I continued, "He had a heart attack… he didn't make it." I said before I began crying again.

Leonard pulled me to his chest again, before rubbing my back. I heard him trying to stop himself from crying as well, only because he was closer to my dad than he was his own. In fact, he was closer to my sister's own family than his.

After a moment, I heard Leonard mumble something, that surprisingly made me smile. "I think we've got his middle name."

I said the name in my head, first and middle, before pulling apart and looking over at Leonard. "I think it works," I mentioned, just able to be understood.

"You think?" He wondered, wiping his watery eye clear from the tears.

"Yeah, I really like it," I smiled.

Leonard smiled slightly, before looking down at my bump. He placed his hands on it, and immediately felt him kicking, something he had done since Leonard pulled me to his chest. "Hi, Bentley Wyatt," He said.

* * *

 _ **Please review! Two more chapters left!**_


	6. Chapter 6: October

**_I know I said 2 chapters left, but rather than adding an unnecessary chapter, I'm ending it with this one._**

 ** _Please Review... And enjoy! :)_**

* * *

Chapter 6: October

The large screen in front of us froze, stuck on the profile of the baby, before going black. I saw Leonard look at the OBGYN, who said this was normal. We waited patiently for the screen to catch up, which appeared it wanted to take its time.

The doctor excused herself, saying she was going to get help. I sat there, wanting the ultrasound to continue. Someone at work had suggested a three dimensional ultrasound, and having pregnancy brain, I immediately booked an appointment. That day had arrived, and with some convincing, I had made Sheldon and Amy tag along too. Amy had been so involved with the pregnancy since we announced it, she almost had a heart attack when I asked her if she wanted to come. I had invited Howard and Bernadette along, but they had to cancel last minute at the problem of both Halley and Michael coming down with pink eye again. And I couldn't even ask Raj because he took a last minute flight to India for his mom.

As we were waiting, most of us patiently, it began kicking in that any day now, I could be going into labor, and we would be having this baby. Baby Bentley.

The doctor came back in with a second person, who got the machine running again. He mentioned it would be a moment, so he quickly left to leave us to enjoy the ultrasound. We waited that moment before the screen unfroze, accompanied with a large noise, making us all jump, which then made Bentley move out of shot.

A few seconds of silence, as we all hoped it wouldn't freeze again as she transferred it to the third dimension. It stayed frozen again, but only for a second. Suddenly, the screen changed from the traditional black and white to a shade of orange, which caused Sheldon to cheer like a child. I looked straight over at Leonard as soon as I saw the screen, and he had his jaw dropped slightly. I looked over at both Sheldon and Amy, and they looked exactly the same. Bentley was almost an exact copy of Leonard.

"Oh, he's got daddy's looks," The doctor laughed, looking at the screen.

I began smiling, whilst looking over at the screen that had a pretty good image of what my son would look like. I was now desperate to see him in person, and excited for the next part of parenthood.

"That's a little creepy," Leonard joked, his eyes still on the screen.

I kept looking straight forward, not taking my eyes off the screen. Leonard was right though. Seeing how alike Bentley was to him, was something that actually made me shiver. They were both a spitting image of each other, which made me laugh, too.

"Leonard, its like looking into a poorly made mirror." Sheldon joked, trying to appear funny, which only made me mad at him even more. The only reason being is because he hadn't shut up the entire time here about how much he disliked the idea of being in a small room with a few more people than he was used to.

"Guys, he's absolutely adorable!" Amy cooed, smiling over at both of us, and then back over at the screen.

"You heard that, Bentley? You're adorable!" Leonard laughed, moving closer to my belly.

I stayed quiet, taking in the entire ultrasound. I was a little weirded out by that dream I had back in August. Maybe it's one of the dreams that predict the future. And maybe that happens later on. I then realized that my dad would have loved to meet Bentley. Every feature on him, my dad would have loved to poked, just to annoy or scare me, which was something he loved to do.

"Penny, you okay?" Leonard asked, pulling me out of my trance.

"Yeah," I nodded, "I'm fine."

I saw Leonard nod, before turning back to the screen. I looked back and smiled again, keeping my eyes on Bentley.

"One more month to go," Leonard whispered to me.

I turned to him and saw him smiling. I smiled back and responded, "Uh-huh!" He lifted my hand and kissed it, reminding me of our first appointment.

It was crazy to think Bentley started so small, and now, he's was a full grown baby, with daddy's looks.

* * *

A friend of mine from work was over, and she had brung her camera, so she had offered to take a few pictures. It took some convincing, but Leonard had agreed to take part, and she promised it wouldn't take to long. Sticking to her word, she really didn't take too many, and she didn't take too long either.

At the end, she showed us the pictures, and I was incredibly happy Leonard had decided to take part, as he's not really a large fan of having his picture taken anymore. Leonard had decided that his favorite one was the one were him and I were blurred in the background, and the main focus was on a grey stuffed bunny that my dad had bought for us when we announced we were having a boy, with one of the printed profile pictures we had gotten from the ultrasound a few days ago. I said that I didn't have a favorite, and that I liked them all, but for truth, I did really like the one Leonard picked.

* * *

Leonard quietly paced around the living room, whilst trying to act calm. We had left the beach early to go to the hospital, as I had started having some really bad contractions. For some reason, Howard and Bernadette decided to go to a beach at the end of October, and we were stupid enough to join them. About an hour after, we had to leave.

 ** _Flashback_**

"Auntie Penny, can you help me build a sandcastle?" Halley asked over to me, giving me a big and cheesy smile.

"I'll do it, Halley," Howard offered, standing up and joining his daughter a few inches away. "Auntie Penny isn't feeling well."

I smiled over at Howard, and mouthed the words 'thank you'. I looked over at Leonard, and smiled when I saw the panic in his eyes. I placed my hand on his leg and laughed slightly.

"Everything's going to be fine," I reassured.

Leonard nodded, and I placed my head on his shoulder. He rested his head on top mine, and put one of his hands only my belly. We stayed like that, until I felt another contraction. I leant forward, making Leonard do the same, before he checked his watch.

"Alright, that's four minutes, let's go," Leonard announced, standing up from the sand.

"You were counting?" I asked, through the midst of the contraction.

"Of course I was!" He laughed, before slowly getting me to my feet.

Bernadette approached with Michael, who was covered in water from head to toe, and asked what was going on, as she had missed all of the drama being down at the sea.

"Penny's having regular contractions about four minutes apart, so I'm taking her to the hospital." Leonard answered, allowing me to lean up against him.

Bernadette nodded, before wishing us luck. Leonard said he would keep them updated with what was going on, before I almost dragged him to the car. After I sat down in the front seat, Leonard having placed down a towel in case, he took a moment to get round to his side. When he had gotten in, he immediately started it up, and drove to the hospital, almost being stopped twice.

 ** _Flashback ends_**

When we had gotten to the hospital, they did a few examinations, before sending us back home because my contractions spaced out, going more than ten minutes apart. We had gotten home and Leonard went up for a shower, because we had been on the beach. I sat down on the couch after grabbing a drink, before being hit by several contractions one after another. I shouted up for Leonard, and he came running down, dressed only in a towel. After the last one, I had prepared myself for another, but it didn't come. Leonard rushed into the kitchen and grabbed me a drink and a piece of candy that was supposed to be for Halloween in two days. He rushed back upstairs to get changed, and I prepare myself for another contraction. Which didn't come.

But I did begin to get worried about his movement.

* * *

 **October 30th, 2022**

I woke up at about five o'clock the next morning to the contraction that hadn't arrived the night before. I moved my arm over to Leonard's side of the bed, to find him not there. I called out his name loudly, and he came running in from the nursery the next room down the hall.

"Penny, what's wrong?" He asked, and I heard the shear panic in his voice.

I couldn't speak, due to the mass amount of pain, so I pointed down to my belly, and he got the message. He jumped up on his side of the bed, and began rubbing my back. After the contraction was over, I asked him what he was doing in the nursery.

"I was worried about you last night, so much so I couldn't get to sleep. I decided to take a look at the nursery, and I ended up falling asleep in the chair."

I smiled, before kissing him tightly. I pulled apart quickly when I noticed something wrong.

"Penny, you okay?" He asked, looking confused over at me.

"He didn't move." I sighed.

"Huh?" Leonard wondered, raising his eyebrows.

"Bentley. He didn't move. He always moves. Why didn't he move?" I asked, my voice stammering off at the end.

"He's okay. He's probably still asleep," Leonard reassured, smiling over at me.

"No, he's never asleep. He's always so active. Why isn't he moving?"

"He's fine." Leonard smiled, which made me smile.

I kissed him again, appearing fine, but in my head, I was constantly worrying about why Bentley want moving.

* * *

Six hours later, I still hadn't felt Bentley. Leonard had called in several times to the hospital, and they kept giving us recommendations on how to get him to move, and not allowing us to go to the hospital and have him checked. They said to eat some crackers and have juice to get him to kick, but I know when Bentley didn't kick, he would move around and change the position of my belly. This time was different. No kicks, no movement, no changing. For six hours.

After having several denials from the hospital to be allowed in, and being completely petrified about Bentley, I made Leonard drive back up to the hospital. I needed to be checked out. I needed to know he was okay.

We arrived, and the receptionist immediately denied our access to a room. Leonard tried nagging and negotiating with the receptionist, but she hardly budged from her place. After a moment, I completely lost it.

"Listen here, lady! I haven't felt my baby boy in over six hours, which is incredibly strange for him. I'm having regular contractions, which I know aren't close enough to be admitted. But you're going to take me and my husband through to a room, and you are going to make sure everything is okay with our baby! You got that?" I shouted, glaring crossly at her.

She whimpered, before taking us to a side room. She left us for a moment, as she went to get another doctor.

"Nice job getting us in here," Leonard praised with a smile.

"I did what I had to do. I was petrified. I still am." I sighed, my eyes filling with tears slightly.

"I am too." Leonard sighed. This was the first time since our twelve week appointment that I had heard Leonard say he was petrified. Of course he had gotten scared at times, but nothing like this.

The doctor came in and gave us a little smile, which made me want to pounce up and beat him. Leonard held my shoulder, keeping me down. The doctor sat down and explained everything I had said to the receptionist a few moments before. I glared at him, and he picked up on it, so he began the ultrasound machine. We waited to hear the heartbeat, but a few seconds later, it still hadn't been heard. I felt my heart rate pick up rapidly as he moved the wand around. A few moments later, the doctor turns to us.

"I'm so sorry," He sighed, as my heart dropped.


End file.
